Bath Iron Works and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce are suing the Maine Department of Labor over a provision of a new paid family and medical leave law.
The 20-page complaint filed in Kennebec County Superior Court asserts that labor department rules will force BIW and members of the Maine chamber to pay into a new state program even though those businesses plan to offer their own family and medical leave benefits.
The paid family leave law was enacted in 2023 and included a waiver allowing employers to offer a private benefit under some specific circumstances. But the lawsuit by BIW and the chamber assert that rules implementing the law will force employers to pay into the state benefits fund during the first quarter of this year.
A spokesperson for BIW said that will cost the shipbuilder $1 million in premiums with no benefit to its employees. The lawsuit challenges that provision of the law, not its implementation or funding.
A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Labor declined to comment on the litigation, but noted that the program will provide employees up to 12 weeks of paid leave and that 8,500 employers have already registered.
The payroll tax funding the program began this month and the benefit is expected to be available beginning in 2026.
